83 FR 54587 - North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; Transfer

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 210 (October 30, 2018)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice of a proposed program revision to transfer the authority to implement and enforce the North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPDES) program from the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDOH) to the newly established North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ). If approved, the NDDEQ will administer the approved NDPDES program regulating discharges of pollutants into waters of the United States under its jurisdiction as described in the state's program application. The EPA will retain the authority to issue NPDES permits for facilities located in Indian country and/or discharging to waters in Indian country.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 210 (Tuesday, October 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54587-54588]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23632]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Docket ID No. EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0389; FRL-9985-60-Region 8]


North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; Transfer

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice 
of a proposed program revision to transfer the authority to implement 
and enforce the North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
(NDPDES) program from the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDOH) to 
the newly established North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality 
(NDDEQ). If approved, the NDDEQ will administer the approved NDPDES 
program regulating discharges of pollutants into waters of the United 
States under its jurisdiction as described in the state's program 
application. The EPA will retain the authority to issue NPDES permits 
for facilities located in Indian country and/or discharging to waters 
in Indian country.

DATES: Written comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be 
received on or before November 29, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R08-
OAR-2018-0389, to the Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
www.regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia 
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written 
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and 
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Wastewater Program, 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, 
Denver, Colorado 80202-1129. The EPA requests that if at all possible, 
you contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to view the hard copy of the docket. You may view the 
hard copy of the docket Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 
excluding federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: VelRey Lozano, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 8, (8WP-CWW), 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, 
Colorado 80202-1129, 303-312-6128, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    On April 7, 2017, the Governor of North Dakota signed a bill into 
law mandating the creation of a new North Dakota Department of 
Environmental Quality. NDDEQ will be a cabinet-level agency that will 
implement all of the federally authorized or delegated environmental 
programs currently run by the Environmental Health Section of NDDOH. 
The law gives NDDOH until July 1, 2019, to obtain the necessary program 
authorizations and approvals from EPA to allow NDDEQ to implement the 
State's delegated and/or authorized environmental programs.
    A state may revise its NPDES program. 40 CFR 123.62(a). In doing 
so, the State must submit a modified program description, Attorney 
General's statement, Memorandum of Agreement or other such 
documentation as EPA determines to be necessary under the 
circumstances. 40 CFR 123.62(b). States with approved programs are 
required to notify EPA whenever they propose to transfer all or part of 
the approved State agency to any other State agency and to identify any 
new division of responsibilities amongst the agencies involved. 40 CFR 
123.62(c). Organizational charts required in the State's original 
authorization package must be revised and resubmitted. Id. The new 
agency is not authorized to administer the program until approved by 
the Regional Administrator.
    On July 30, 2018, the EPA received a complete program revision 
package from the state of North Dakota. The EPA has determined the 
program revision package contains all the required elements. The full 
program revision package is available for inspection and copying at the 
addresses appearing in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

[[Page 54588]]

General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    Entities potentially affected by this action are: The EPA; and the 
regulated community and residents within the state of North Dakota (see 
Table 1). This table is not intended to be exhaustive; rather, it 
provides a guide for readers regarding entities that this action is 
likely to affect.

    Table 1--Entities Potentially Affected by This Proposed Approval
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           Category            Examples of potentially affected entities
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State and Indian Tribal        States and Indian tribes that provide
 Governments, and Federal       certification under section 401 of the
 Agencies.                      CWA; States, Indian Tribes, and federal
                                agencies that own or operate treatment
                                works outside of Indian country that
                                require an NDPDES permit.
Municipalities...............  POTWs required to apply for or seek
                                coverage under an NDPDES individual or
                                general permit and to perform routine
                                monitoring as a condition of an NDPDES
                                permit.
Industry.....................  Facilities required to apply for or seek
                                coverage under an NDPDES individual or
                                general permit and to perform routine
                                monitoring as a condition of an NDPDES
                                permit.
NDPDES Stakeholders..........  Any party that may review and provide
                                comments on NDPDES permits.
Residents of the state of      Any party that may review and provide
 North Dakota.                  comments on NDPDES permits.
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    If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this 
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What action is EPA taking?

    With this action, the EPA is providing notice of a proposed program 
revision to the State of North Dakota's approved NPDES program to 
transfer authority to administer the NDPDES program from the NDDOH to 
the NDDEQ. This action is not changing the current scope of North 
Dakota's NDPDES program and is transferring authority to another agency 
to implement the state's current NPDES program as part of the larger 
effort to move all federally authorized or delegated environmental 
programs from the NDDOH to the NDDEQ. If the proposed program revision 
is approved, EPA will retain the authority to issue permits for 
facilities located in Indian country \1\ and/or discharging to waters 
in Indian country.
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    \1\ EPA's approval of North Dakota's request to transfer its 
NPDES authority from the North Dakota Department of Health to the 
North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality does not extend to 
Indian country. As defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 1151, Indian country 
generally includes lands within the exterior boundaries of the 
following Indian reservations located within North Dakota: The Fort 
Berthold Indian Reservation, the Spirit Lake Reservation, the 
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and the Turtle Mountain 
Reservation; any land held in trust by the United States for an 
Indian tribe; and any other areas that are ``Indian country'' within 
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. Section 1151. EPA, or eligible Indian 
tribes, as appropriate, will retain responsibilities under the Clean 
Water Act NPDES program for wastewater discharges in Indian country.
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C. What is EPA's authority for taking this action?

    This action is taken under the authority of section 402 of the 
Clean Water Act as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1342. Under 40 CFR 123.62(b)(2), 
the EPA is required to determine whether proposed program revisions are 
substantial and, if so, issue public notice and provide an opportunity 
to comment for a period of at least 30 days. The EPA considers this 
transfer of state authority to be substantial.

    Dated: October 24, 2018.
Darcy O'Connor,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Water Protection, EPA, 
Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2018-23632 Filed 10-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P